Green Engineering, Green Chemistry and Circular Economy: Principles, Research Areas and Challenges. Towards a Holistic View of Sustainability

Dear Colleagues,

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines “Green Engineering” (GE) as ‘‘the design, commercialization and use of processes and products that are technically and economically feasible while minimizing (1) generation of pollution at the source (2) risk to human health and the environment’’ (Slater et al., 2005). Brennecke (2004), analyzing GE and green chemistry (GC) definitions, states that GE deals with the design, marketing, and use of all types of processes and products, while GC includes only a subset of these aspects: process designs and chemical products. The author declared: “So Green Chemistry is a subset of Green Engineering!” (Brennecke, 2004, p.362). Although these concepts can be used interchangeably, Marteel-Parrish and Abraham (2014) consider that “each of these concepts embodies slightly different ideas and encompasses different scopes of activity” (p.22). However, interdisciplinarity is undeniable. Both GC and GE “help to balance the need quality of life improvement, while maintaining the health of humans and the environment” (Matus et al., 2012, p. 193). In this regard, sustainability goes beyond GE and GC concepts (Marteel-Parrish and Abraham, 2014). Sustainability and sustainable development are ethical theories that define desirable results in a context that considers environmental, economic, and social aspects (Voigt et al., 2013).

This Special Issue (SI) aims to stimulate a debate on these concepts, supporting a creative and valuable discussion between leading international researchers and experts on these four reference topics: 1) green chemistry, 2) sustainable chemistry; 3) green engineering, and 4) sustainability/sustainable development (SD)/circular economy (CE). SI articles should focus on the synergies existing between the previous concepts, proposing frameworks, models, and case studies to support the industrial world in implementing sustainability and CE in industrial processes. Potential authors are encouraged to submit high-quality original empirical, quantitative, and conceptual research papers. Topics include but are not limited to:

• Study of the relationships between GC, GE, SD, and CE both in the industrial and scientific research fields;
• Analysis of the impact of GC, GE, SD, and CE in industrial processes;
• Study of GC, GE, SD, and CE evaluation indicators;
• Evaluation of the social, environmental, and economic benefits of implementing management models oriented toward GC, GE, SD, and CE;
• Studies on the implementation of the 24 principles of GC and GE.

References

1. Brennecke, J.F. Green Engineering. Green Chem. 2004, 6, 362–362.
2. Marteel-Parrish, A.E., Abraham, M.A. Green Chemistry and Engineering: A Pathway to sustainability. John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ, USA, 2014.
3. Matus, K.J.M., Xiao, X., Zimmerman, J.B. Green chemistry and green engineering in China : drivers, policies and barriers to innovation. Clean. Prod. 2012, 32, 193–203.
4. Slater, C.S., Hesketh, R.P., Fichana, D., Henry, J., Flynn, A.M. Expanding the frontiers in green engineering education. 2005, doi:10.18260/1-2--15250
5. Voigt, K., Scherb, H., Bruggemann, R., Schramm, K. Science of the Total Environment Discrete mathematical data analysis approach : A valuable assessment method for sustainable chemistry. Sci. Total Environ. 2013, 454–455, 149–153. https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.02.098

Dr. Luca Silvestri
Dr. Cecilia Silvestri
Prof. Dr. Antonio Forcina
Dr. Gianpaolo Di Bona
Guest Editors

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• green chemistry
• sustainable chemistry
• green engineering
• management models
• industrial processes
• principles of GC and GE